Who are the good draft picks in head coach 09?

[Guru03]

Who are the best players to draft in the 2008 offseason in head coach 09?

[TheShizNo1]

Use the search function, or look through this section. There's been spreadsheets done for this.

[bigchief58]

are you talking other than the obvious ones? i.e. jake long, keith rivers, darrin mcfadden, ryan clady? some sleepers are josh johnson who could be had in like rd 4 or later. andre woodson, usually in round 6 or later, although i have seen him taken in round 3. ray rice is a nice rb and goes in round 2. alexis serna is a great kicker who can be had in round 5 or later.

[Skarecrow]

I also recommend the spreadsheets (look for the "2008-13 collaboration" one), but they don't tell the whole story.

note, spoilers galore below.

Who is "good" depends entirely on what you need.

On Defense:

Everybody loves keith rivers. I got him once and didn't play that franchise long enough to see him shine. He's also the only real standout linebacker. There are some solid niche players though depending on your philosophies.

Chris long is good, but I've yet to see him keep up with either Xavier Cox or Quincy Sims (both of whom I picked up in later years) despite being paid similar paychecks. While he is very solid, he's just not worth his superstar price in my opinion. Calais Campbell is a good alternative at a much cheaper price.

Glenn Dorsey is a horrible pick. I picked him once, gave him a huge contract and a stunning bonus, and regretted it for years because I couldn't get rid of him in a trade because of it. Don't get me wrong, he does his job in a superior fashion.. when he's on the field. Bastard gets injured more than anybody I've ever seen. he's out at LEAST half the games in any given season. Just never long enough to make it worth putting him on the IR.

Pick Dre moore instead of Glenn. Dre is very solid. He isn't a hall-of-famer, but he'll be a solid backbone of any line. He comes cheap too.

I like kenny phillips. He's a star at either SS or CB.

Patrick Lee is a very safe pick at CB. Not a superstar, but solid as a rock. He'll be your 2nd string or nickle back for years and years once you pick up a superstar or two in later drafts.

On offense, There are no superstar quaterbacks up front, not compared to what you've got coming in the later drafts anyway. There are a number of sleeper QBs though. If you're willing to work with them, Andre Woodson and Josh Johnson can both turn into very solid all-around QBs. Andre with a bit more focus on pocket passer and Josh will eventually develop into a double threat passer and runner. Both will require a few seasons of development time though to get there. Alex Brink and Brian Brohm are not the quality sleepers of Andre or Josh. If you pick either one of them, you're doing it just for color. You'll be getting much better QB choices coming up in 3 out of the 4 2009 drafts.

Darren McFadden is one of the best all-around backs in the entire game, all years of all draft paths considered. I think only Laron James equals him. There's nothing Darren McFadden can't do. His trucking is godly. He can bust through almost any defensive line for that extra 2 or 3 yards for the first down. He's my pick for best player in the draft, and fully worth whatever it takes to get him if your team needs a franchise running back.

Felix Jones is a solid 2nd choice, but he gets injured more than you might expect. I had both him and Glenn Dorsey on my steelers franchise, and I imagine they become good chums on their way to the trainer every week.

There are no superstar receivers, but there are any number of very solid players who will probably snag a spot on your starting roster for years to come. Desean Jackson, Dexter Jackson, Earl Bennett, and Early Doucet are all solid picks. I favor Earl Bennett although I can't really say why. Harry Douglas and Mario Manningham are both good picks if they fit your teams philosophies.

There are no good Tight Ends in this draft or most any other either. Jermichael Finley has an impressive potential, but he'll never reach it. Tight Ends just don't develop in this game for some reason. I say just get TEs who are already developed. Trade for Gates, Gonzalez, or Whitten or pick them up in FA (One exception. if you get the English path, Storm Stewart may be worth drafting. He's done pretty solid for me so far).

Jake long is entirely not worth the #1 pick. He does a superb job, but then so does Sam Baker or Ryan Clady and you can get them later and cheaper. Demetrius Bell is like Andrew Crummey (see below). looks like he'll be good long term, but you'll never end up using him him.

Branden Albert is a fantastic guard, and the only real one of note in the draft. Stay away from Andrew Crummey, he has good potential but it will take him half his career to get there, by which point you'll have had the opportunity to draft at least a dozens guards of his caliber who don't take that kind of development time.

There are no good centers. Steven Justice is a decent placeholder until you get a better center.

if you need a kicker, Alexis Serna can be picked up in round 6, 7, or sometimes after the draft in the undrafted rookies feeding frenzy. he's got great potential however he is also good enough to start right out of the draft, which is good, because like tight ends, he'll never truly devleop to match his sky-high potential.

Overall, assuming you don't have a HUGE hole to fill right now, your round 1 go-to choices for performance-per-dollar in my opinion are HB Darren McFadden, ROLB Keith Rivers, LG Branden Albert, SS Kenny Phillips, or possibly one of the two Longs (LT Jake and RE Chris) if you've got the cap space to blow on them. both of them usually go #1 and #2 from what I've seen.

[Byron Yatch]

With everything Skarecrow just said I would like to put an asterisk next to it.

By this I only mean to say he is correct in his depiction of these players, but they should still be picked if you're looking at the big picture.

For players like Glenn dorsey who will have PLENTY of backups to choose from in future drafts, you SHOULD get him if you can find a way to afford it. Your trainer will NEVER gain points if he never has to heal anyone's injuries. You need 4 people a year you can count on having serious injuries so he can do his job and gain a good amount of skill points towards his progression.

Again, I dont mean to say that he's wrong about these players he bad talks, they do get injured a lot and they do miss a lot of games. But for positions with a WEALTH of talent(where you can draft a great player in the 3rd-6th rounds to take their place while they're injured), you should always be willing to spend a little money on a guy like Dorsey or Felix Jones that excels when healthy, even if he gets injured a lot!

Small picture, you lose a starting player so you're angry about it for the time being maybe lose a couple more games than you wanted.
Big picture, your trainer gets better every year which will cut down on injuries in the future years, Especially once you get one of the top 3 trainers after that 08 season(Aaron Lee, Robert Wyman, or Gary Quartermaster).

[Skarecrow]

I don't disagree Byron, you have a valid point. That said, I still wouldn't go after Glenn for the role of trainer-training. He's going to go in the top 6 or top 7 usually, and that's a big contract. That's a lot of money to waste on somebody who'll only be playing half the time. Felix Jones would be better suited to that role in my opinion, seeing as he usually goes in the high teens or low twenties in round 1.

[Byron Yatch]

I can definitely agree with that. If you are going to draft someone in the first 10 picks, they should be capable of staying healthy. Outside 10 though, I love an injury risk like reggie vick(2nd draft in the jack english path) or felix jones in that first draft.

Of course you would prefer the injury prone people to be 2nd rd or later in an optimal world because of their smaller contracts but some guys like vick are nasty when they're healthy.

[lastlastlast]

Gonna bump this old thread to say my recommendations:

QB: Josh Johnson, Andre Woodson
HB: Darren McFadden, Ray Rice
FB: Carl Stewart
WR: Donnie Avery, Early Doucet, Mario Manningham
TE: None
LT: Jake Long, Ryan Clady
LG: Branden Albert, David Hale
C: John Sullivan, Steven Justice
RG: Roy Schuening
RT: None
LE: None
RE: Chris Long (if you have the peanuts), Calais Campbell
DT: Glenn Dorsey, Dre Moore, Frank Okam, Athya Rubin
LOLB: None
MLB: Beau Bell
ROLB: Keith Rivers, David Vobora
CB: Patrick Lee, Jack Ikegwuonu
FS: None
SS: Kenny Phillips, Craig Steltz, Traye Jessup, Kelin Johnson, Jamar Adams
K: Alexis Serna
P: Durant Brooks

[Cavicchi]

Quote: Originally Posted by lastlastlast

Gonna bump this old thread to say my recommendations: QB: Josh Johnson, Andre Woodson HB: Darren McFadden, Ray Rice FB: Carl Stewart WR: Donnie Avery, Early Doucet, Mario Manningham TE: None LT: Jake Long, Ryan Clady LG: Branden Albert, David Hale C: John Sullivan, Steven Justice RG: Roy Schuening RT: None LE: None RE: Chris Long (if you have the peanuts), Calais Campbell DT: Glenn Dorsey, Dre Moore, Frank Okam, Athya Rubin LOLB: None MLB: Beau Bell ROLB: Keith Rivers, David Vobora CB: Patrick Lee, Jack Ikegwuonu FS: None SS: Kenny Phillips, Craig Steltz, Traye Jessup, Kelin Johnson, Jamar Adams K: Alexis Serna P: Durant Brooks

This is a very interesting thread for me as I'm planning on starting over in the Off Season. If you were the Patriots, would you go for McFadden or Rivers?

I'll have to search, but in the meantime, is there a draft guide for the 2008 off season? I would like to assess who may be my best choices for picks.

[thedudescrew]

Here is the link for the 2008 and on collaboration. Enjoy